Yield-hungry pension funds and sovereign wealth funds are stepping in where crisis-hit, regulation-laden banks are pulling back: lending to cash-starved businesses. Pension funds hold more than $30 trillion of assets and sovereign wealth funds some $3-5 trillion, meaning that even a small shift to lending could help fill some of the gap left by bank deleveraging.
The sovereign wealth fund industry, which manages windfall revenues for future generations for countries from Norway to Abu Dhabi, has been hit by the financial and debt crisis and is turning to lending as part of its efforts to diversify………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s $650 billion wealth fund, the world’s largest, now has to buy stocks as they slump. The government this month codified that the fund, which goes by the official name of the Government Pension Fund Global, has to buy stocks when markets are falling as part of a strategy it calls rebalancing.
The process will be triggered when the fund’s stock weighting deviates more than 4 percentage points from its 60 percent mandated level at the end of a month. “We can stomach buying more equities in falling markets,” Paal Haugerud, head of the Finance Ministry’s asset management unit, said in an Oct. 18 interview in Oslo. “Short-term volatility is of lesser importance for a truly long-term investor.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China’s sovereign wealth fund is expanding its presence in the United Kingdom by getting more involved in London’s property market.
China Investment Corporation, the manager of China’s $410 billion sovereign fund, is in talks to buy Deutsche Bank’s headquarters building in London for 250 million pounds ($403 million), according to British media reports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings has appointed NM Rothschild to exit a seven-year-old investment in contract drug maker Medreich, which could attract offers from strategic investors like Blackstone-owned Catalent Pharma Solutions and Perrigo Company besides private equity investors.
Temasek with about 30% stake expects Medreich to be valued at $200-250 million. “While Rothschild has been appointed by Temasek, we know that the promoters of the company may also look for an exit if the valuation expectations are met. It is a potential sellout, but the key is valuation,” said people familiar with process………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Future Fund, Australia’s quasi sovereign wealth manager, wants to buy more infrastructure assets but is finding a lot of its rivals do too. “We like Australian infrastructure primarily because of its close fit with our mandate,” said Nadine Lennie, a director at the Fund. “Unfortunately for us a lot of other investors like investing in Australian infrastructure so it is a competitive market.”
In its quarterly outlook, the Future Fund said it was looking to invest in a pipeline of infrastructure assets both in Australia and offshore………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Australian Greens have welcomed a decision by the Future Fund to review its investments in tobacco companies. Greens senator Richard Di Natale, who has been pushing the fund to make more ethical investments, says investing hundreds of millions in such a “toxic industry” makes no sense.
The fund’s governance committee is reviewing its $219 million hold in tobacco companies. “The only logical outcome of the fund’s internal review is to recommend for the divestment of those holdings,” Senator Di Natale said in a statement on Friday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The National Heart Foundation of Australia is welcoming the announcement that the Future Fund is reviewing its investment of taxpayers’ funds in tobacco companies, but has called for the review to be transparent and open.
“The Heart Foundation strongly opposes investment of public funds in tobacco companies via the Future Fund,” said Dr Lyn Roberts, National CEO of the Heart Foundation. “It’s totally inappropriate for the Future Fund to work against the Australian Government’s proud record on tobacco control………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, has launched a $5 billion sovereign wealth fund in an attempt to diversify its economy — a move more associated with wealthy Gulf States like Qatar and the UAE.
The state-owned investment fund, known as the Fundo Soberano de Angola, will invest domestically and internationally, focusing on infrastructure development and the hospitality industry. These are two areas the Government of Angola believes is “likely to exhibit strong growth”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The leadership of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) established to manage the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) faces a Herculean task given the controversy surrounding the establishment of the fund.
The eight member board to be led by former director of First Bank Plc, Mahey Rasheed, as the Chairman, with Uche Orji, a former Managing Director of JP Morgan, as the Chief Executive Officer was unveiled recently by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Other board members are Jide Zeitlin, Bili Awosika, Arnold Akpe, Hassan Usman, Bisi Soyebo and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Two global sovereign wealth funds have invested A$872m ($904m) in Australian shopping centres through wealth manager AMP Ltd as part of an asset swap deal with mall owner Westfield Group. AMP said it has bought Westfield and Westfield Retail Trust’s interests in three shopping malls for A$1.025bn ($1.06bn). It sold interests in four centres to Westfield and Westfield Retail Trust for A$710m.
The transaction was backed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Harina Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Alaska Permanent Fund returned 4.6% in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2013 according to figures released today, against its benchmark return of 4.7%. The Fund ended on September 30 with a value of $42.3 billion, a gain of $2.0 billion over Fiscal Year 2012.
Permanent Fund Cooperation CEO Michael J. Burns credited actions by the central banks at home and overseas that helped spur increases in global stock markets, even though many of the world’s regions are in an economic slump, and after the stock market losses of 2012, this rally is a welcome change as all asset classes for the Permanent Fund had positive returns this quarter, leading to a solid start to the fiscal year………………………………………..Full Article: Source